Smothered Burritos Recipe

What is amazing about this recipe for smothered burritos is how easy it is to prepare. The meat is cooked in the slow cooker and very little work is involved, and to make things even better, this recipe uses very few ingredients. The process to making these smothered burritos is very simple—stew meat, enchilada sauce, and beef bouillon cubes are combined in the slow cooker and cooked on low until the meat is tender. The meat mixture is then spooned into a tortilla and rolled up with refried beans. It is then topped with the sauce from the crock pot and cheese and baked until the cheese has melted. What I like to do to save time is pop the burritos into the microwave to melt the cheese. The meat in this recipe is so tender that it just flakes easily when stirred so no shredding is necessary. These can be topped with your favorite burrito toppings such as sour cream, lettuce, and tomato. Enjoy. Adapted from Food Pusher.Ingredients:
2lbs stew meat (or cubed beef)
1 (20 oz) can mild red enchilada sauce
2 beef bouillon cubes
½ can refried beans
5-7 large flour tortillas (warmed)
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheeseCooking Instructions:Step 1: Add cubed beef, beef bouillon cubes, and enchilada sauce into a crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Heat up refried beans in a microwave safe dish or in a small saucepan on the stove top.Step 2: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch baking dish. Lay out a flour tortilla onto a flat surface. Place a thin layer of refried beans into the center of the tortilla, add about ½ cup of the meat mixture onto the burrito with a slotted spoon (make sure to drain most of the liquid). Fold the sides of the burrito in, then roll from the other sides until you have a package formed. Place the burrito seam side down into the casserole dish. Spoon some of the remaining enchilada sauce in the crock pot over the burrito and top with shredded cheddar cheese. Repeat until all of the burritos are rolled and in the casserole dish.Step 3: Place into the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese has melted. You can also place the burritos onto microwave safe plates, and microwave for about 30 seconds until the cheese has melted.
(Makes 5 Servings)

31 Responses to “Smothered Burritos Recipe”

I usually make slow cooker carnitas with lots of separate ingredients (onions, cilantro, homemade salsa, etc) but I never considered using enchilada sauce to season the meat. What an awesome idea! It would be great with beef or pork.

I made these today and they were wonderful. The beef just fell apart, the sauce was rich and tasty. I have one leftover for tomorrow’s lunch. Hubby said “that’s a keeper”. Thanks!

Melanie — December 3, 2012 @ 12:56 pm

Yummy !!!! This would be great with my new tortilla bowl pans. I would just fill the tortilla bowls with beans and the meat mixture, smother with cheese , bake till the cheese melts then add the other toppings. Thanks, I can not wait to try this.

Hillary — December 8, 2012 @ 6:53 am

A MAZ ING! These were so delicious that we argued over who got the last one! My uncle made this recipe, but used chicken… So GOOD! Thanks for sharing!

I have the meat in the crockpot to give these a try! Only addition, I added chopped green chilies to the mixture. Can’t wait to try it!

kristina — August 18, 2013 @ 12:34 pm

this was so delicious! Next time i would not add the shredded meat back in the sauce, just bc then you can skip the straining step, but oh my yumcilicle!! thanks for my new easy go-to weeknight meal!!

Lynne — September 12, 2013 @ 4:48 pm

I made these tonight and they were very good. Next time I will follow all the steps but will heat them in the oven for about 30 minutes. The recipe itself is excellent!

Julie — September 25, 2013 @ 9:42 am

I have the meat in the crock pot right now and it is cooked all the way through. HOWEVER, it is NOT “falling apart.” It is staying in chunks and is not easy to just stick 2 forks in there and shred each and every piece of meat. Any suggestions? This recipe looks so good, but if I have to take out each chunk of meat and shred it with forks one by one, this recipe is going straight in the trash!! Help, please!!!

Bobby — September 25, 2013 @ 8:17 pm

Julie – how long has the meat been cooking for? It takes awhile. What I usually do is push it down with a slotted metal spoon and it breaks apart.

Julie — September 26, 2013 @ 11:03 am

It had been about 3-4 hours at that point. My crock pot tends to cook things quite a bit faster than most, even on low. I was afraid the meat would overcook and get tough if I left it in longer. Maybe I should have kept cooking it then… Or I could have used a small crock pot instead of my big one. Do you think that would have helped? These did actually turn out really well, but my hands cramp up whenever I have to shred meat with forks. I decided not to throw the recipe in the trash, though.

Bobby — September 26, 2013 @ 7:59 pm

Julie- I am glad you didn’t throw it away :). Sounds to me like you just didn’t cook it for long enough. I don’t know your crock pot but going by what you are saying, I would say that 3-4 hours is not enough time. You should not have to shred the beef with two forks. If you decide to give it another go, try cooking the beef for awhile longer and see if you get better results.

Caroline Sue Wittig — October 8, 2013 @ 1:31 am

Heavenly!!! I have made this twice now and can’t tell you how easy and great this recipe is. Since there are just two in my family I left the meat in the crock pot and just warmed it up when we were hungry. Making one at a time was so easy and I used the microwave instead of the oven. The meat just fell a part and was so tender, I cooked it as long as you suggested 8-9 hours.

I would love to have more of your recipes.

Kerrie-Anne — November 6, 2013 @ 2:20 pm

Being Australian confused on enchilada sauce?
Would salsa work?

Bobby — November 6, 2013 @ 9:07 pm

Kerrie-Anne – salsa would give this recipe a much different flavor than the enchilada sauce. I would recommend the enchilada sauce if you can find it.

Any ideas on the nutritional values of this receipe? I’ve been trying to watch my weight and I’d like to try this, just wondering if you have any idea of the calorie and/or fat content. Thanks

Bobby — November 8, 2013 @ 9:02 pm

Sandy – No, sorry I do not have the nutritional values for this recipe.

Diane — November 14, 2013 @ 1:10 am

I made these today and they were really good, even though the sauce was a tad too salty from the bouillon. I didn’t have cubes, so I used 2 tsp granules for the 2 cubes. Next time I will cut it down to 1 tsp. To curb the saltiness, I added a can of Chili with Beans to it which turned out to be a good addition, giving the sauce a chili flavor with extra body for smothering the burritos in. Overall, excellent burritos.

Donna — November 24, 2013 @ 2:16 pm

Has anyone had any experience with chipotle in adobo? I bought a can thinking this recipe called for it (didn’t look at the recipe before I left nor did I have access to it while I was out {facepalm}, Was thinking of adding it to some of the burritos cause my boyfriend doesn’t like things spicy like I do. The recipe looks really tasty though. Planning on making it tomorrow so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Bobby — November 24, 2013 @ 10:11 pm

Donna – you could add some of the chipotle in adobo to the slow cooker with the meat and enchilada sauce but it will make the dish spicy. You may only want to put a small amount in so it isn’t too spicy.

Val — February 13, 2014 @ 8:59 pm

I’m going to try this recipe out on Saturday for my boyfriend and I, though I couldn’t find specifically enchilada sauce in the grocery store in either the world food section OR the Mexican food section, so I bought taco sauce and taquiero sauce.
Hoping it works out alright using these instead! Though still a bit wary.

Laura — March 12, 2014 @ 6:25 am

Can you put the meat in crockpot frozen?

Bobby replied: — March 12th, 2014 @ 7:56 pm

I have never tried putting the meat in the crockpot frozen. I would say that you probably could but keep in mind, it is going to take longer to cook. I hope this helps.

Meaghan — September 11, 2014 @ 8:17 pm

What do you think about putting some mexican rice in the burritos before baking them??

Bobby replied: — September 11th, 2014 @ 8:23 pm

I think that would go great!

Alana — October 1, 2014 @ 5:28 pm

Does the meat have to be cubed? I have a top sirloin roast
I was going to use for this. Can it go in whole and shred it
at the end?

Bobby replied: — October 2nd, 2014 @ 7:44 pm

Yes, that should work fine.

Lindsey — October 2, 2014 @ 9:43 pm

I used this recipe and turned it into a common dish here in southern arizona , I add sautéed onions and garlic in the crockpot and cook with the meat then after I roll the burritos we deep fry them and then smoother them it was the bomb fed the whole shift tonight I was the hero! Thank you!

nancy frank — May 9, 2015 @ 3:54 pm

Eexcellent is a keeper. I added a can of rotel and sm can of green chiles in crockpot with beef

Terry — July 22, 2015 @ 10:13 am

I am making right now and only had a 10oz can of enchilada sauce but I had taco seasoning so I used a little of that with water and added it and I didn’t have any beef cubes so I just add some seasoning I hope it turns out ok

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